Tuesday, May 1, 2012

A Room of His Own :: Part Two

Hello, friends! Remember last week, when I told you Shepherd was going to transition from his bassinet to his crib? Well, transition has been a huge success so far. I am very thankful! He is now going to bed at 8:30 p.m. in his own room. We usually start bedtime routine a little before 8, with a bath, stories, nursing and prayers (but not necessarily in that order).

Once we say prayers, turn off the lights and turn on the ceiling fan, Shepherd generally just looks at us and smiles until we walk away. I sometimes think that little boy knows how hard some things are for his mom, so he goes out of his way to be super sweet. It breaks my heart in a happy way. He sleeps from about 8:30 p.m. to 2:30 or 3 a.m. He is then awake at around 4:30 and finally up at 6:30 for the day. He wakes up so happy, and even his little face looks brighter. Again, I'm so thankful!

Thanks to your advice, I feel like his good nights of sleep are more than worth adjusting to his natural nap routine. After I posted about Shepherd's napping habits, he began to take two regular naps: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I don't think it will be a trend, though it sure has been nice!

Now, our newest challenge is introducing the bottle. Do you have any suggestions about which types of bottles you have had success with? We have tried with little success Medela bottles; similar to pacifiers, Shepherd just spits them out and gags. Should we just keep trying the same type of bottle/nipple? I am working along the lines of these suggestions, so Aaron is feeding Shepherd until Shep is comfortable. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

1 comment:

The LCs & Dr at MilkWorks have tested a ton of bottles and find that the best slow flow nipple/bottle for breastfed kiddos is the Playtex Ventair bottle. Even though other bottles claim to be slow flow (medela) they aren't slow enough which is why Shep gags because the milk is coming too fast. The Ventair makes babies work to get the milk much like at the breast & helps keep them from over eating. Hope that helps!